South Cobb began its final drive from its own 14-yard line after turning Westlake over on downs in the red zone. On the second play, Sam Jackson powered through the Lions’ defense for 25 yards to put the Eagles near midfield.

Three plays later, Kylil Carter gave the Eagles another first down with a 7-yard run and pushed them into Westlake territory. Five plays later, with just 57 seconds to go, Carter made a bigger play, running 3 yards for a first down on fourth-and-2.

But that would be the last highlight for South Cobb. A pair of incomplete passes, a sack for a 5-yard loss and Carter was tackled behind the line of scrimmage on fourth-and-15, they gave the ball back to Westlake with 26 seconds remaining.

“It just goes to show you football is a game of inches,” Youngblood said. “We had a couple of balls that just hit the fingertips of some receivers. We missed a few tackles by a couple of inches. We just came up a little bit short (Friday).”

“We just told our kids you just got to keep believing and keep fighting and that was what they did and we were able to be victorious,” Westlake coach Bryan Love said.

The Lions (1-1) took a knee to drain the rest of the clock and snapped an 11-game losing streak, while also preventing any chance of back-to-back winless seasons.

This win was a true blessing — a lot of hard work and preparation by a lot of people,” Love said. “It was a total team effort and team victory.”

“I feel real confident that next week we will be more than ready to play,” Youngblood said.

Early in the third quarter, the Eagles held a 10-6 lead but Demetrius Beverly gave Westlake the lead for good with a 41-yard touchdown run later in the frame. The Lions extended their margin early in the fourth when Beverly zipped a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jamauri Elliott for an eight-point cushion.

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